At least 384 Government impersonation scams since June 2025 that involved physical collection of monies & valuables
In an advisory issued on Monday (1 Sept), the Singapore Police Force (SPF) revealed that there had been at least 384 reported cases of government impersonation scams that involved the physical collection of monies and valuables since June 2025.
The total losses from the reported cases amounted to at least S$20.2 million.
Image by MS News. For illustration purposes only.
In light of these cases, the SPF urged members of the public to stay vigilant against such Government Official Impersonation Scams (GOIS).
Scam variant usually involve 2 scammers
Describing the variant of GOIS, the police stated that victims would first receive unsolicited calls from scammers pretending to be representatives from financial institutions or government agencies.
Financial institutions that scammers would impersonate include banks like DBS and Maybank, financial service companies like UnionPay, and insurance providers like Income Insurance.
For government agencies, the scammers were reported as impersonating the officers from the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority or the Ministry of Health.
The scammers would then claim that the victims had either
- Owed premiums associated with insurance policies
- Submitted fraudulent medical subsidy or claim applications
- Conducted suspicious banking or financial transactions
- Possessed phone numbers registered to them that were involved in fraudulent activities.
When they deny their involvement, victims would be transferred to another scammer claiming to be a government official.
The second scammer would claim to be from agencies like the Monetary Authority of Singapore, SPF, Ministry of Law, or police forces from other jurisdictions.
They would then accuse victims of involvement in criminal activities — typically money laundering — in an attempt to intimidate them.
Victims would subsequently be asked to withdraw money, purchase gold bars, or pass valuables to individuals posing as “officers”, “inspectors”, or “undercover agents”.
Some victims were also asked to place the valuables in discreet locations for collection. Others were even asked to hand over pre-signed cheques.
Victims would realise they had been scammed after the scammers became uncontactable, or after they had sought verification with the SPF.
Government officials would never ask for a money transfer or banking information
SPF took the opportunity to caution members of the public not to transfer money to unknown and unverified personnel.
Additionally, the advisory stressed the importance of never leaving money or valuables at physical locations to facilitate subsequent collection.
Members of the public are also reminded that they will not receive requests from government officials asking them to transfer money, disclose banking information, or install mobile apps from unofficial app stores.
To safeguard themselves, members of the public are advised to install the ScamShield app, check for scam-related information from trusted sources, and report scam cases should they encounter them.
Also read: S’porean grandma tricked into giving S$30K to fake MAS officer, helps police nab scammer
S’porean grandma tricked into giving S$30K to fake MAS officer, helps police nab scammer
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Featured image adapted from South_agency on Canva and by MS News. Both images are for illustration purposes only.Â
